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>> and now, "bbc world news america." ♪ >> this is bbc world news america. reporting from watching tim, i am laura trevelyan. the philippines -- washington, i am laura trevelyan. strikes the philippines, and now moves on to its next target. high-stakes talks in place in the nuclear program for possible easing of sanctions. and taking to the sky, we look back at the early days of ballooning, and you would not believe some of the essentials in the air. ♪

>> welcome to our viewers on public television and -- in america and around the globe. goes down inn history as one of the most dangerous storms ever recorded. it is wreaking havoc in the pacific, crossing to the philippines and causing extensive damage with winds at 125 miles per hour. we report from the capital of manila. could be the most powerful typhoon ever to hit land. since dawn, wind up to 200 miles per hour struck the philippine central island. a the eastern province -- coastal town was swamped by the storm surge. streets turned into rivers of debris.

satellite images tracked the typhoon's relentless progress. this is now headed to vietnam and southern china. of people have been urged to seek shelter. but some had chosen to stay. filipinos are well used to typhoons. they have had more than 20 this year, but none of them at this strength. and the country is still recovering from an earthquake last month that left hundreds dead and tens of thousands of people living in temporary shelter. today, those same people have to face a super typhoon. the leader has called for the country to come together. >> no storm can bring a united filipino people to its knees. stay my hope that we all safe in the coming days. parts of the central philippines are without power and phone lines are down, and

after heavy rain there is a large risk of landslides. >> people across the philippines face a difficult night. the capital manila has avoided the damage, but agencies say that the damage could be unprecedented. one united nations official said hundreds of thousands of homes could have been damaged or destroyed. many families here have lost everything but it may be days before we know the full extent of the damage and the number of lives that were lost. john donaldson, bbc news, manila. on the damage i spoke a short time ago with the filipino ambassador to the u.s., jose crecia jr. i know that dawn is breaking in the philippines right now. what can you tell us about the impact of the storm? >> we are told that the front

it isft the area allowing. sea -- andilippine from the official reports we have gathered, there have been six people who have died. this is based on the initial reports. we reported earlier today that several were injured. from --ficial report officially lists six people have died and we have not confirmed those figures. fortunately, the storm went quite fast, -- >> and many people evacuated? washat is the reason it better than previous typhoons,

the government was prepared and it allowed the people who were living in the low lying areas, they were evacuated to evacuation centers. >> do you believe that their homes were destroyed and what will they be going back to? >> similar to what has happened to the earthquake about three weeks ago, the government will be helping them to reconstruct their homes. the government agencies will be working with the private sector in trying to help them. >> do you need more international assistance at this point? from are getting offers entities and governments, we have not officially founded an appeal for international assistance, we will be doing that soon. >> do you think you are seeing more of the deadly typhoons because of rising climate change and sea level's?

>> i think that is very important and part of what we should be looking at. the typhoons and earthquakes, to some extent, are attainable -- to climate change. climatebe focusing on change and i think that we should get more governments to participate in that conference. >> the philippines needs more help to protect itself from the changing climate? >> and we would appreciate the assistance of the developed economy, to provide not just financial support but expertise, to provide this to countries like the philippines and other developing countries, to learn more how to cope with climate change. >> ambassador, thank you for joining us. >> iq so much for inviting me. >> tonight, hope of a breakthrough with the nuclear

program of iran. this comes after u.s. secretary of state john kerry and others arrived. of important gaps that need to be bridged but there is increasing optimism that iran may stop a nuclear program for an easing of sanctions. we have this report from geneva. >> this was the confirmation that the talks were serious. foreign ministers of the big western powers led by secretary of state john kerry diverted airplanes and canceled meetings to fly into geneva. they came here because there seems to be a real chance to end the slow born -- slow burning but potentially catastrophic iran.ff over nuclear this has loomed closer to

causing another middle east war but now there are hopes of an agreement. given the history of relations with the west this is a sensitive issue. and there is a deep suspicion at home and in israel about the motives of iran, and how they are working to measure expectations. >> there are still some very important issues on the table that are unresolved. it is important for those to be this isly addressed, not the agreement at that time. they are making a breakthrough here partly because the supreme leader has argued for more flexibility. any deal in geneva, if this happens, maybe the first step to a wider agreement. the iranian enrichment program a ron says they are for

peaceful nuclear energy, and a ron wants into economic sanctions that have caused real hardship and political discontent. optimists say that diplomatic success in this quiet town may break the international deadlock over syria. a syrian geneva peace conference has just failed. compares minister who their leaders do not cease, -- to nazis -- says this. got the deal of the century and the international community got a very bad deal. >> that did not puncture the mood. iran's foreign minister was driven off to a series of meetings as talks go on. >> we are just hearing that those talks in geneva have

broken up tonight after five hours and the participants characterize these talks as "good." i spoke to kareem, from the carnegie endowment program. thank you for being with us. after years of talks that never went anywhere, is this any different? >> this is a hopeful moment because the president in washington, barack obama, and rouhani in iran --in order to stop this program they will meet meaningful sanctions relief. be tough for congress to do that. >> there are things united states can do. the treasury department can lift banking sanctions on iran. >> these can be listed -- lifted, but in order to give

everyone the binding sanctions this willare seeking, require congressional approval but the u.s., in the short term, can stop freezing billions of dollars in assets. >> what does iran need to do? >> they would have to cap there enrichment of uranium, agreeing to much greater transparency, and it would lead to shifts in stockpiling the low enriched uranium. >> the israeli prime minister is very unhappy about this and said this is the deal of the century bama called him today. how do you think that this went? >> this was very tense, and i am sure president obama is not happy with him trying to sabotage this. there is a distance and netanyahu -- in netanyahu's thinking. he is possibly sabotaging this

military lead to action if this fails. >> how important is it for rouh ani to come away with something to show that the u.s. is responding to their overtures? >> for the first time in a long time, iran is showing serious willingness to make compromises. if they show that the other side is not reciprocating the kind of diplomacy, i think the likelihood that the hardliners in iran take power is stronger. >> if there is a new average in u.s. and iranian relations, can this change the syrian conflict? >> i am doubtful about that. focused on ap is tactical nuclear compromise to reduce the sanctions. i don't see him interested yet altering thely

long-term position. >> but do you see a change in relations between iran and the u.s.? ofi see a reduction sanctions but not diplomatic reconciliation like the u.s. and china in 1978. >> thank you for that. in other news around the world, a british royal marine who shot dead an insurgent has been the first u.k. soldier to be convicted of murder. recorded on the camera helmet of a fellow soldier as he shot the afghan in the head. two other marines were also charged with murder but acquitted. rains battle the jungles of the country. homes are flooded as landslides blocked major roads in the region of san martin. at least one person is missing.

unprecedented economic reform. that is how the agenda is described in beijing ahead of the saturday meeting of chinese leaders. this is a significant moment for ping, who came to power last year, on his ability to set up the economic system. -- ourup first correspondent has been to you lan and shanghai, -- yulan and shanghai, to show how they have taken control. >> the skyline of shanghai has rise, a story unique in history. in all the wealth created, from communism to capitalism, and now the breakneck growth is slowing. is the chinese leader ping promising unprecedented reform.

of shedding state control-- xi jinping is promising unprecedented reform. the job of shedding state control -- people are fighting to fight their land being taken from them. chinese farmers like these in this village can only work the field but cannot sell them. they are shut out of the new economy. the authorities want to build a tourist village here, seizing land is how they make money. so the tax system also needs reform. people in the area soon heard that we were in gwangi. they hurried to the village and we heard their complaints. everyone one of them was about land.

>> this affects hundreds of millions of people. what is blocking change is the local government. imposes --whatg can we do but to rise up? if we stop one, there is another in their place. could tie up the residence -- but others believe that migrants will take their jobs and add to the burden on hospitals and schools. major reforms are needed here as the chinese leaders control the banks. the financial crisis in the west makes them cautious. >> when you see how well that they have done this in europe and the united states, they are nervous about giving too much power to the bankers. i think that the state is still going to control all of the significant institutions but they will push more to operate market businesses.

>> and now china is richer and reforming is harder. none of the wealthy and powerful want to lose out. so the leaders talk of change will not be radical. they will relax their grip gradually. bbc news, shanghai. >> how much reform will the leaders allow? still to come on tonight's program, how far is he willing to go for a free metro ride e less than three government spots will do the trick. don't worry, we will explain. man has been arrested over the capsizing of a ship off the coast. the 24-year-old is accused of being part of the group that smuggles people from north africa to europe. he is reporting -- reported to

have tended to be a migrant but has been identified as one of the organizers of the trip. >> arriving in sicily for questioning, the somali man is accused in involvement in organizing a long and terrible journey that ended in hundreds of deaths. here,eks ago, he landed in the harbor on the italian island of lambert is a -- lamber duzza. at the refugee center he was attacked by survivors of last month's disasters sinking. they say he transported them and then held them at a cap in libya and demanded money. man faces charges

of kidnap and sexual violence. they will move on to another organization, and they move on to europe. but these travelers were lucky and they were saved. the boats are often unseaworthy. at the center of the story of this disaster ended this way. the boat caught fire, then capsized and was found on the seabed, the whole crammed with dead bodies. allen johnson, bbc news. rome. >> the weekend is almost here. for many that means jumping on public transport and heading out, but in moscow that could raise your blood pressure. we don't talk about dealing with other passengers.

this is about getting a ticket, which could work -- work up a sweat. steve rosenburg reports. >> they say, let the train take the strain, but in moscow they have decided to make you strain to get on the train. presenting the world's first squat howard underground ticket machine. two0 squats properly in minutes and this curious invention will you view a ticket. this normally costs 30 rubles. it does not matter how you do them, but there are no extra prizes for showing off. this is the brainchild of the russian olympic committee, the idea is to try to encourage russians to get fit ahead of the next winter olympics.

i have to say that this is not as easy as it looks. 2, 1. there we go. i have done that, here is my ticket. thank you very much. i really don't have the energy now to get on that train. -- which just goes to show you have to be fit to ride for free on the russian railways. .bc news, moscow >> l dunn, steve, with those super -- well done, steve, with those supersquats. captivated people for centuries, but floating easy.the earth was not nobody knew what would happen if you went into the clouds, or how high you could go, and falling upward. we have chronicled the history

of ballooning, and this is what we found. there is asay that basket beneath this, and in the basket was a story. holmes,me is richard this book is about the beginning of ballooning in the 18th and 19th centuries. nobody had ever flown and there were enlistments with icarus, whose wings melted in the sun. no one knew if you flew into a cloud, if you would be electrocuted, or if you flew into the sun. a bit -- british meteorologist named james glacier, built a balloon to take it up as high as it could go and they go to 10,000 feet, 20,000 feet, 29,000 feet, which is as high as mount everest. nobody had ever attempted that.

and suddenly they are overcome because there is no oxygen and he cannot see his instruments, he jobs back against the basket. the pilot knows the only thing to do is to pull the release lever. he manages to get hold of the line and the only way he could pull it is with his teeth. they start coming down from 32,000 feet. balloonists -- they were an amazing group of people. --a young french woman turned out to be absolutely dauntless and a brilliant balloonist. things the craziest imaginable in hydrogen balloons. they are highly flammable. she would give aerial fireworks displays. she became so famous for that that the emperor napoleon himself saw this and appointed her the official balloonist of

the empire. in tragedy inends 1819, when the balloon catches fire. she managed to bring the balloon fire, but it was on landed on one of the rooftops. and then she slipped down the roof, several floors. putting herself at the mercy of nature in order to find out about this. this is an important theme in the book. atple say flying begins kitty hawk in 1913, but i say for hundreds of years people have gone up in the air to find out what is up there. >> the first aviator, in the early day of ballooning -- is told in the new book, "falling upward." you can find constant updates on

our website. for all of us at world is america, thank you for watching and have a great weekend. merica," thank a you for watching and have a great weekend. >> funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, newman's own foundation, giving all profits to charity and pursuing the common good for over 30 years, union bank, and united healthcare. >> my customers can shop around, see who does good work and compare costs. it can also work that way with health care. with united healthcare, i get information on quality ratings of doctors, treatment options, and estimates for how much i'll pay. that helps me and my guys make informed decisions. i don't like guesses with my business and definitely not with our health. >> that's health in numbers. united healthcare. >> at union bank, our

relationship managers work hard to understand the industry you operate in, working to nurture new ventures and help provide capital for key strategic decisions. we offer expertise and tailored solutions in a wide range of industries. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news america" was presented by kcet, los angeles.